2013 session a huge success for District 73There are always more challenges and new ideas on the horizon, but I think the 89th General Assembly passed some life-changing legislation this year. Working together, we were able to appropriate funding for the Healthcare Independence Act, with a vote of 77-23. More than 250,000 more Arkansans will now have insurance coverage available. We reduced state income taxes for every income tax bracket and for every Arkansan by one tenth, and raised ...

Too much bigger to failI try not to write about things I don’t know much about, and I’ll be the first to admit I understand little about high finance. But I do know this: If something is too big to fail, then it’s too big. That’s a lesson the United States should have learned through the bailouts of the past few years. Unfortunately, it hasn’t. The banks that were too big to fail and had to be bailed out in 2008 have become even bigger now. You remember the bailouts...

Great truths to contemplateFormer British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket, trying to lift himself up by the handle.” Now, I believe you will agree that would be a pretty hard thing to do. Yet, there is a mindset present in our nation today held by people who continually seek to find new and creative ways to collect more money from taxpayers, regardless of the...

Recognizing teachersThis week is Teacher Appreciation Week. According to the Arkansas Department of Education, we currently have 33,282 certified school teachers in Arkansas. Day in and day out, they instruct, care for, discipline, inspire and interact with our children. My wife is a teacher and I know how hard she works to give kids the best of her knowledge, talent and energy. Teaching is an incredibly vital profession that often doesn’t get the appreciation it...

Where is the hope?Employers, physicians, rescue workers, psychiatrists, pastors, child welfare workers, emergency service personnel, hospice staff, etc. universally attest to the power of hope and to the tragic power of despair. Widows and widowers often die soon after the death of their spouse. Travelers lost in dire circumstances, employees trapped in dead end jobs, children who do not know where their next meal is coming from, cancer patients, etc. all seem ...

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Pastor Steve EllisonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Walking in the spiritGalatians 5:16 states: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh”. What did Paul mean when he said this? The basic idea here is that the Christian life is one defined by the fruit of the Spirit, which fulfills the Law. What Paul is saying is that walking by the spirit requires a closeness to God that only comes through a personal relationship with God. It’s in that relationship that you have the ability...

The art of legislatingLet’s start this column with the kind of quote that usually would appear at the end: “To me that’s the art of legislating,” Key said. “I go into it with what I want, what I think is best, understanding that it’s give and take. I’ve seen examples of an all or nothing approach that, in the end, end in failure.” “Key” is Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, and the legislation he’s referring to is The Public School Choice Act of 2013. Passed during ...

Taxing Internet salesIn 1998 when President Clinton signed the bipartisan Internet Tax Freedom Act, which prohibited state and local taxation of Internet access and Internet-only services, the purpose was to promote the commercial potential of the Internet, especially for start-ups and small businesses. Congress extended the bill three times, the latest until 2014. Now there’s the Marketplace Fairness Act, which, writes the Washington Post, “would allow states and...

Advocates contend law allows open carryBeginning July 1, Arkansas citizens will be cable to carry a handgun openly almost anywhere. That’s how various gun-rights advocacy groups interpret Act 746, passed last month by the state Legislature. Arkansas Carry, a nonprofit organization devoted to Second Amendment rights, issued a news release last week expressing delight that Arkansas will become the fifth state in the United States to enact “constitutional carry” into law. As defined b...

Carter in middleAfter emerging as a leader during the legislative session, many are wondering what is next for Arkansas House Speaker Davy Carter. Carter wasn’t even in the picture seven months ago, other than being a third-term representative from Cabot. Democrats were in control before November elections and Rep. Darrin Williams had been tabbed speaker-designate. Returning Republicans were hopeful they would win the majority and had Rep. Terry Rice of Waldr...

Missing George JonesWhen I heard that 81-year-old country singer George Jones died, I did not do the only decent thing. I did not leave work, go to a bar and play his music on the jukebox while drinking shots of Jack Daniel’s with longneck bottles of Budweiser as a chaser. I was out on a story when Jones’ death hit the newswires. My wife, Deborah, who is a reporter at the same newspaper where I am a reporter, called me and said, “George Jones is dead.” I was on a...

Changing the terms on term limitsIn 1992, Arkansas voters approved one of the country’s strictest legislative term limits laws: three two-year terms in the state House and two four-year terms in the Senate. Next November, they’ll have a chance to revisit the idea – unless the attorney general finds something to nitpick or somebody wins a lawsuit to keep it off the ballot, of course. Referred to voters by the Legislature, The Arkansas Elected Officials Ethics, Transparency, an...

Words fail when saying goodbyeThere are no words, but I wish there were. “Aw, I hope so too. Keeping you in my thoughts.” This was the last thing I said to Susie Whorton — the sentiment in the form of a text message — before she passed away, although I sent this text nearly a month before her abrupt passing. Looking back on it now, it reeks somewhat of superficiality — I feel almost embarrassed to post it in this column (do I really use the word “Aw” very often, if at all?...

Time for tradition of Decoration DaysThroughout the month of May people will take part in the tradition of Decoration Days, a time to come together to decorate the graves of loved ones. According to many historians, the holiday began in connection with Memorial Day as a way to honor the huge numbers of Civil War dead, many of who were never properly buried. If you’re familiar with this column you may recall previous pieces about the living tradition of Decoration Days in this are...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Offenders, snow and Wonder Boys baseballScatter shooting and wondering what ever happened to Jim Counce. • • • At Atkins High School last week, a sophomore student left a threatening message on a wall about a bomb threat. That student sits in the Pope County Detention Center today with a $50,000 bond after being arrested on a felony charge. At felony bond hearings, it was said the state will attempt to try the young man as an adult, not as a juvenile. That plan will require approval...

Mental healthIn this next segment on mental health related to different disorders, I will be covering schizophrenia. This disorder occurs at similar rates in all ethnic groups and affects men and women equally, although men tend to experience symptoms earlier in life than women. It usually does not occur after the age of 45 and rarely in children. It most commonly presents in the late teens or early adulthood. Early symptoms may include irritability or ten...

Supporting state scholarsLITTLE ROCK — As excitement builds toward graduation ceremonies this spring, it’s a good time to look at Arkansas’ progress in our efforts to improve higher education. With all the advances we’ve made in K-12 education, we’re still situated toward the bottom of national rankings when it comes to obtaining bachelor’s degrees. The good news is, we are starting to turn that trend around, and the young men and women celebrating their high-school g...

My way or the highwayYou may think “My way or the highway” is good leadership strategy, but it is not. You may think that it is a sign of strength but it is not. Does the Bible direct us to stand strong, immovable, and uncompromising on every belief that we have? Does the Bible direct us to try to please others, always giving in to others regarding their beliefs? Are those two ideas incompatible and conflicting? These are important questions. Our ideas about these...

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Pastor Steve EllisonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Who is my neighbor?An expert in the law wanting to justify himself, inquired of Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). In reply, Jesus told a story concerning a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. “They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.” A Levite also app...

Reaching toward heavenHumans have long reached toward heaven. I don’t know whether this desire represents an attempt to get away from the ground, an attempt to associate with God or an attempt to peer over the balcony and look at all the little people below. But the desire to go higher and higher has long shaped the skylines of our cities. The Empire State Building opened this week in 1931 as the tallest building in the world at 1,250 feet. It retained this designa...